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Mackenroe V. Rokford
' '''Mackenroe Rokford (1700 - 1734) was an Admiral of the Vulpine Imperium's Navy. Prior to this, he had a decorated naval career, most notably as an officer and later captain of the ''Skeered of Nothing, and former member of the Stoatorian Guard. From the Bunk Appearance Mackenroe is a unique breed of lizard. His skin is a dull orange with yellow spots along the top of his head, running down his back to his tail - none are certain if its because he's not a whole monitor, some other form of reptile, or just has a weird skin condition. His body has been honed by his time at sea, making him limber and well-toned despite his somewhat skinny frame. He walks with the rolling gait of an experienced sailor. Mack's most prominent physical characteristic, however, is that he only has one eye. Where his left eye should be, the reptile has covered it with an eye patch. His right eye, amber in color and clear, has only grown sharper due to the loss of the other, and Mack is noted for his keen vision. Mack prefers to dress simply, not prone to wearing anything flashy. In casual attire, he wears a brown vest with tarnished brass buttons, green trousers, and a red bandanna tied around his head. A single pocket on his vest holds the few possessions he keeps on him, namely his sling, ammo and his heirloom spyglass, a gift from his deceased uncle. In recent years, the lizard has donned an aged navy-blue greatcoat and wears a similarly colored tricorn hat, usually worn with the bandanna underneath. The coat bears a coat of arms on the right breast pocket, depicting the anchor and seagull mark of the old Tradewinds Shipping Company. Both are rather grimy and give him the air of an old salt, which is just the sort of look he's going for. Personality Mack is not the same reptile he was when he left the Imperium. The bright and cheery optimism he once displayed has become weathered and rough, and the lizard seems to carry a weariness on his shoulders. He comes off as a world-weary sailor who's had his naivete battered away, replaced with some grim experience. Nevertheless, he is unusually sophisticated and friendly for a monitor, further fueling rumors that he is some sort of exotic half-breed. He speaks little these days, and prefers to watch situations from afar. An inherited trait from his rich parents comes into play in that when opportunity stirs, Mack perks up and takes to whatever it is with gusto. But this is countered in that he is a hard-worker and a determined soul. Mack was once considered by many to be an Imperial loyalist, who went out of his way to show respect to his Ministers and the Emperor. Those who have crossed paths with him in recent years have found him more subdued and guarded. He's become something of a freelancer, and doesn't say much about his dealings. As a personality quirk, Mack is terribly fond of high-places and is quite the nimble climber. A ship's rigging is like a playground to the lizard, and on vessels he knows well, he can navigate and name every winch, cable, pulley and rope. Biography Mackenroe Vincent Rokford was born to the prominent Rokford family in Bully Harbor on Notempre 30, 1700. The Rokfords - not their real last name, but one adopted to sound more sophisticated, the missing "C" in the name being considered vogue - were rare in that they were monitors that had somehow overcome their hissing speech and brutish natures, though these were replaced with avarice and a cutthroat eye for obtaining more lucre and station. Mack was forced into a life he could not stand, being tutored at home, and forced to stay on the manor grounds. Treated more like an object of pride to the family than a child, and having no friends, Mack was lonely for a good long while, until a certain fox by the name of Rejubi Zamous poked his head over the garden wall. The two children became good friends, and their meetings lasted in secret many a time. Though Mackenroe's parents tried to find ways to stop the little fox from coming around, Rejubi always found a way to get back to his reptilian friend. Mack was quite thankful for this, and together they would sneak off to make mischief. The other main joy in young Mack's life, and another hitch in his parents plans, was Mack's seafaring uncle, the merchant captain Amos Rokford. The lad was enthralled by the tales of his good-natured uncle, and was captivated by the sea at a young age. Though welcomed back to the house after every voyage, the master and mistress Rokford did not approve of the message the old salt was giving to their son. They expected Mack to become a beast of proper society and social standing, carrying on the tradition of the Rokfords as the most well-bred and sophisticated lizards known (a reputation constantly haunted by the stigma of monitor lizards being thickly-accented, stupid brutes), not some chucklehead sailor who smelled of salt and cheap grog. Try as they might, the intimidating captain would return again and again and fill Mack's bleak and boring life with rollicking stories of the high seas and the many voyages he'd been on. Unfortunately, this was not to last. Amos' ship had been recruited for extra pay into a scouting vessel to explore the Mysterious Southern Continent. Before he left, the lizard gave his nephew a brass spyglass, informing him to "always keep his eye on the horizon." He never returned from that voyage. In 1715, Mack learned of his betrothal to the monitor lizard daughter of a well-to-do family. This was the last straw. That night, after having a grand argument with his parents, he slipped away into the night to meet with his old friend Rejubi. The pair signed aboard a supply frigate as deckhands, and Mack's life at sea began. It has been noted by many that Captain Rokford never spoke of this period in great detail, becoming noticeably downcast when recalling some to a trusted few. It was later gleaned that the frigate he served aboard was taken by the Ivory Corsairs, and Mack was pressed into the pirate company. His missing eye was the result not of a battle, but a vindictive captain who removed it when he disobeyed orders. Eventually a mutiny occurred, one he has helped quietly set into motion, and Mack escaped to some far-flung corner of the Imperium to recover. Several years later, Mack started his first naval year aboard the BlackShip, then under the captaincy of Calria E. Eagle. He got his first taste of real Imperial sealife while there, and loved the adventure that came with it. Despite the friends and ties he made there, the lizard transferred shortly after the death of Grolgum Z. Kildee II, partialy because he had become charge of little Grolgum III, and partially because of a dislike of the ship's captain. Thus, the intrepid reptile found himself making berth aboard the Skeered of Nothing (then under the captaincy of Raserei Goltalmo), young Grolgy in tow. Mack found himself almost immediately taking on cooking duties, using the skills he'd picked up from his friend Rejubi to at least put out some meager meals. Mack, during the course of his second year in the Navy, would climb the officers ladder several times aboard the ship. What followed was a swift rise and then fall for this colorful character. Mack became a lieutenant in the Stoatorian Guard and formed a romantic relationship with the lizardess Thalas Skimya. He served for a time as Captain of the Skeered of Nothing, then unexpectedly vanished for nearly six years. Where he had been, none could guess, though a choice few received disclosure about his secret and deeply personal journey. Regardless, in 1733 he made his return to the Imperium with the weaseless Amelia Alton in tow, and his first course of action was getting the Skeered of Nothing back into shape from her brief tenure as a prison hulk. Assuming captaincy again, he oversaw the long and steady repair. But her first voyage following would prove disastrous for Mack, as he was wounded in a fight aboard a burning ship in the Delor Archipelago, crippling his right leg and forcing him, from that point forward, to walk with a limp. He might have recovered from this, if not for injuries he sustained during the Maelstrom conflict while being held hostage, beaten by a vindictive mad vixen. Seemingly rendered old and useless before his time, Mack was promoted following this mission up to the position of Admiral of the Navy. He now resides in Bully Harbor, planning missions and overseeing the business of defending the Imperium while he gazes longingly out his window at the sea. 'Death Post' ((The following is a snippet from the Author's death post. If you would like to read the entire thing, it is on Page 4 of the Thoroughfare thread "Winter War: The Harbour")) Mack felt no measure of hesitation as he descended into the dark tunnel, shutting the hatch behind him. He regretted that it would be slow going, but he hobbled along as best he could through the gloom. Down here, the chaos above was muffled, but could not be drowned out entirely. He didn't want it to be. Ahead, a light. A single lantern with a sputtering candle sat on the floor, and beside it a small metal lockbox. Mack almost laughed as he sat on the floor and opened its contents - he hadn't seen a box with these sort of flammable content in a long time, and it reminded him of an old friend long gone. Ahead, in the shadows, he saw the bulk of something - dozens of somethings, packed from floor to ceiling. Grimly, Mack took the box and spread its contents across the floor before him before drawing the candle from the lantern. He held it in his claw, looking closely at the little flame. To think, so much would be undone by such a tiny light... For an instant, a flash of regret went through the lizard. That it had to come to this, that he had been rendered such that could not die in battle alongside his shipmates. He had gained so much, and yet had lost more than he could ever bear. He would never feel the breeze on his face, nor the crash of waves. He would never get to tell Capols how much his buffoonery had been a boon to him; how Amelia had pulled him back from the brink; how much he loved Thalas, and how life without her was not one worth living... Mack withdrew the letter from his pocket, and put the flame to the edge of the paper until it caught. In the flare, he could read the coded message: Admiral. The green arrow flies in one hour. Evacuate immediately. But he would be useless no more. He would do his duty, for the decaying heart of this once-great Imperium, and for whoever was unfortunate enough to be left in it that still had a conscience. Admiral Mackenroe Vincent Rokford dropped the paper to the tunnel floor, and took the harborside with him on his way out. 'Alternates:' Capols D. Burbon, Amelia Alton, and Haginbow Tunning. Category:Beasts